KR HR & TRAINING NEWS ARTICLES

Business owners and leadership teams should start preparing now for important changes to workplace sexual harassment law coming into force on 30 October 2026 under the Employment Rights Act 2025.

The key change is that employers will move from a duty to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment to a duty to take “all reasonable steps”. Employers will also have stronger responsibilities in relation to harassment of employees by third parties, such as customers, clients, contractors or members of the public.

What counts as “all reasonable steps” will depend on the circumstances of each business, including its size, sector and the nature of its work. However, the emphasis is clear: businesses should focus on actively preventing harassment, rather than simply responding after something has gone wrong.

It’s also worth remembering that since April 2026, complaints relating to sexual harassment count as protected disclosures under whistleblowing rules.

For a small business, this does not necessarily mean creating complex corporate procedures. It does mean being able to show that you have thought carefully about the risks in your workplace and taken all practical and reasonable action to reduce them.

A practical checklist for small businesses

Before October 2026, here are ten steps to help you get ahead of the changes:

1. Review your policies. Check that your bullying, harassment and grievance policies are up to date and clearly explain that sexual harassment will not be tolerated.
2. Consider a specific sexual harassment policy. A standalone policy may help make expectations and reporting procedures clearer.
3. Carry out a risk assessment. Think about where and when harassment risks might arise, including at social events, when employees work alone, online, or when dealing with customers and clients. Consider any high-risk factors and where these intersect, such as a male dominated workforce, younger workers or those for whom English is not the first language, as well as things like evening events where alcohol is served.
4. Provide appropriate training. Make sure employees and managers understand what sexual harassment is, what behaviour is unacceptable and how concerns should be reported. Whilst online training is a starting point, directing individuals to e-learning courses is unlikely to be sufficient on its own. Consider face-to-face sessions tailored specifically for your workforce where you can discuss specific issues relating to the risks you have identified in your organisation.
5. Give employees more than one way to raise concerns. Staff should not feel that they can only report harassment to their direct manager. Make sure escalation routes are clear – it is a good idea to have visual information in addition to a policy.
6. Consider third-party risks. Identify customers, clients, suppliers or other people your teams encounter through work and consider what preventative measures may be appropriate.
7. Communicate expectations to customers and other third parties. Where relevant, make it clear that harassment of your staff will not be tolerated and explain the possible consequences. You could consider including this in your terms of business or on posters in your workplace (such as those you often see in transport or healthcare settings).
8. Respond promptly to concerns. Investigate complaints fairly and take appropriate action. Use incidents and complaints as an opportunity to identify whether further preventative steps are needed.
9. Keep records. Document risk assessments, training, policies, incidents and the reasons for decisions about preventative measures.
10. Review regularly. Prevention should be an ongoing process rather than a one-off exercise.

The most important message for employers is to start early. A business that can demonstrate that it has assessed its risks, trained its people, provided clear reporting routes and regularly reviewed its approach will be in a much stronger position than one that waits for an incident before taking action.

The new law is not simply about having the right policy on paper. It is about creating a workplace culture in which inappropriate behaviour is less likely to occur and employees know that concerns will be taken seriously.

We’ve been busy supporting clients to prepare for the change in law by reviewing policies, conducting employee surveys and working with leadership teams to produce tailored risk assessments and onsite training. If this is something we can help you with, please get in touch [link to contact us page].

For further information, see ACAS where you will find summary information, case studies and access to free e-learning.